Sufficient interest

Sufficient interest

Third parties can be heard only if they show “sufficient interest” (Article 27(3) of Regulation 1/2003)

Other natural or legal persons, who have shown sufficient interest, must be informed in writing of the nature and subject matter of the procedure and set a time-limit within which they may make known their views in writing (Article 13 of Reg. 773/2004).

More about Sufficient interest

Decisions as to whether third parties are to be heard are taken by the Hearing Officer after consulting the Director responsible for the case. 1 Any third party applying directly to the case team should be told to address its application, including a statement explaining the applicant's interest in the outcome of the procedure, to the Hearing Officer. If the Hearing Officer accepts the application, the case team will inform third parties in writing of the nature and subject matter of the procedure and afford them the opportunity to make known their views in writing (do not forget to request a non-confidential version of the reply), pursuant to Article 13 (1) of Regulation 773/2004.

More about the Subject

Third parties have no right as such to obtain a non-confidential version of the SO. In practice, third parties can be informed by way of a concise letter setting out the “nature and subject-matter” of the case, or by a summary, or a non-confidential version of the SO (case specific). Third parties may complain to the case team about the appropriateness of the information they received for the purposes of making known their views, and refer the matter for decision to the Hearing Officer in case of disagreement with the case team 2 .

Other Considerations

The Hearing Officer may, where appropriate and after consulting the Director responsible, decide to afford interested third parties the opportunity to express their views at the oral hearing 3 .

Resources

See Also

References

  • Information about Sufficient interest in the Antitrust Manual of Procedures for the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (Internal DG Competition)

Notes


[Note 1]
Article 5 of the HO Terms of Reference. $$11% Article 7(2) of the HO Terms of Reference.
[Note 3]
Article 6(2) of the HO Terms of Reference.

Further Reading

  • Information about Sufficient interest in “An Introduction to EU Competition Law”, Moritz Lorenz (Cambridge University Press)

Posted

in

by

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *